Michael MacGinty – Author & Speaker

After two years it was time to move on and very shortly it was time to sell gifts on a ‘commission only’ basis – a very different proposition. This was so successful that Michael had to set up a company and soon had to hire a sales team of 8 to cover the country selling gifts. The products sold very well, but the new challenge of managing a team of sales people was a very steep learning curve. Time to read, read and read some more.

The challenges faced when hiring and managing a sales team are so different to the challenge of actually selling on your own. It is always a gamble when hiring, regardless of how many tests you do, aptitude, interviews, Myers Briggs, probation etc.

It was back to the drawing board for this position of Sales Director. Personality clashes, lack of motivation, laziness, stubbornness, ego, mood swings, rudeness, addiction and so many other issues would come up. Every human emotion and reaction imaginable. It is like managing any team, where the personal input varies from match to match, day to day. Getting players to do the training can be a push, if you have the wrong people on the bus. When someone becomes the star salesperson they usually want your job or your company.

The Sales Director really has to understand and practice the art of selling. And specifically the products or services that your team sells. It is also important to understand human nature. To understand the psychology behind the sales people and the customers.

The Sales Manager can be a different role, if that position is simply to manage the activities and logistics of running the sales team. A good Sales Manager will outsource proper sales training, in order to ensure the best performance from the team. This investment may be what determines the success of a Sales Manager. Usually, companies remove their best salesperson and makes them the Sales Manager, even though they do not have the requisite skills. Sales usually drop, what a surprise! Sales and Sales Management are two very different things.

Selling gifts and selling websites, the experience, was the same. The products differed, but the approach remained the same. If you can really deliver value for your potential customer, generate a good return on any investment, then you could approach sales with confidence. Granted you still have to have a technique, in order to guide the buyer in the decision making process. The buyers are there to buy, but hate to be sold to. Good buyers will give you an opportunity to convince them, but they rarely have spare time, so you better have the right approach. It had better be in the best interests of the buyer, if you are to have a relationship which can last past the first sale. And that is the target, to establish an ongoing relationship which is mutually beneficial. This is ideal for you both.

Obviously you do have to have a way to fill the funnel somehow, then move the potential clients through that funnel, delivering value at every touch point along the way. Learning to use a system a CRM or just an Excel spreadsheet will help. As will automating whatever can be automated, without losing any humanity in the process. And the process has got to be profitable for both of you.

Read more of Michael’s Sales tips HERE with loads of accumulated snippets of advice and reflections on lessons learned as ‘The Digital Matchmaker.

Selling is the best job in the world. If you do it right, you will never go hungry. If you can truly sell, then you can decide what to sell and therefore how much you will earn. There need be no cap on that figure, IF you truly understand selling, which is by and large a transference of trust.

Michael MacGinty is said to be able to sell snow to Eskimos and sand to the Arabs, but he appreciates that this would add no value to either. For that reason he sells only what benefits his clients. He believes this so much that he will even offer guarantees. He will stand over his service offering. The aim is still the same, find potential suitable clients, who can benefit from our services and deliver value beyond their expectations. And realise that it is our duty to guide others to take action for their sake as well as ours. Our web design agency is not a hugely profitable business, but what we do makes client businesses a lot more profitable. This in turn ensures we stay busy and making ‘enough’ to stay healthy, to support our team, which is based in Ireland, mainly in Donegal and Dublin. Any profits we do earn get reinvested in our agency or in to start ups based in Donegal or Dublin.

As a small business Mentor, Michael believes we need to create our Business by Design. How do you want to work, what you want to do, where, with whom, how many hours a day, how many days a week or year. You create your own business anyway, by what you do and the decisions you make. So plan it in advance and design it to be what you want it to be. Without a plan, you will get whatever transpires, so it will not be what you want. It could be working in Dublin or Donegal, as part of the Community, 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, 48 weeks of the year, doing something you love in a place you love, with the clients you choose, living with the people you love. And making ‘enough’ to support your family, with a comfortable lifestyle.
Or you could work remotely from Spain or France for 4 months of the year. Maybe in a big motorhome with a good satellite connection. Somewhere that is warm in April/May and September/October. That is part of Michaels own design. How would you design your business?

Short term is to ensure that MEANit Web Design Agency remains known as the best in the North West bar none and grow further in the competitive Dublin arena, whilst being profitable enough to stay in business. Then grow the agency to employ another 8 to 10 local people in Dublin and Donegal to design, develop and maintain effective websites for 100’s of professionals nationwide, to help them grow their businesses. Donegal is an ideal place to grow the agency as the quality of life is excellent, especially if the remuneration is reasonable ‘enough’ to allow the team members enjoy life and their work in balance. We are committed to paying good remunerations to great people and being an equal opportunities employer. We do not ‘offshore‘ our web design or development work as we believe in supporting Irish people to protect Irish jobs, by helping professional Irish professional services businesses be effective online, to get the clients they really want…However in order to offer a 24 hour service we do have a small dedicated technical support team in the Phillipines, who ensure our clients get round the clock support, whilst we are sleeping.

Why not have a 30 minute complimentary conversation with Michael MacGinty 086 2510117 to see if he can add value for your business. Or fill in the form below.